Sophomore, Freyja Tzotschew has spent her days in quarantine creating unique and beautiful art pieces. She sketches with pencils and charcoal, shading, doodling, and sketching what makes her happy and sketching what better helps her understand herself and her emotions in a time of solitude. Quarantine has been difficult for a lot of us, but there are ways to make it more interesting. If you have time during your day where you find yourself looking for something to do, there are some simple solutions that can make your mind expand with creativity. An art project doesn’t have to be complex or super-advanced, especially if you don’t know what to do. For your mind to be creative, it simply takes drawing something small on a piece of paper with a pen for your mind to expand, because that small drawing might turn into more ideas for you to explore.
“I think everyone has an artistic gift, but they don’t know what their medium is if they find that special way of creating, it could just be a part of their life forever.”-Amber Bateman
Art has the ability to makes us process feelings, especially in critical times like these, when one is creating it can be calming or stressful, but when you are properly able to give in to the artistic freedom that art gives you, you can heal and release stress. Ms. Amber Bateman, new executive director of the Watauga County Arts Council speaks on how art makes her feel, “When I am creating, it makes me feel excited and energized, a feeling of hope, like wow what can I create.” Ms. Connie Cox, a local potter, also discussed the feeling that art inspires she says, “whenever I create, it makes me feel like I was meant to do this with my life as if I could go on with something I’m creating forever.”
During a time of hardship, remaining calm and collected is hard to do, especially if you don’t have an outlet to turn to, How has art helped you in a time of your life where it was stressful and difficult? Amber had been going through a hard time in her life, art allowed her to get a perspective and express what she has been feeling, she states, “I got the scholarship to Penland school of crafts the day I found out my friend died, and in that period I had 3 other close friends that died, and it helped me out because it was a way of relief, that I could escape from the grief, and that school helped me with that.”
Ms. Cox had been through a tragic part of her life when she was only sixteen, she explains how her creativity had helped her recover, “it helped me because it is a good escape from the hardships, pour yourself into something you are creating that instead of troubles, that life throws your way. When I was recovering from being run over when I was 16 and 17, art was one way I could express myself with the restricted movements I had in my body.”
Many artists were influenced by their parents, role models, community role models, or famous artists in history or in present time, Amber explains the influence she gained and how that let her explore the true talent she had, she says, “my mom, is the one who got me to first start creating and drawing and school, the high school my art class with Mrs. Laurie Hill, and Witticker exposed me to different mediums before it was just a number two pencil and charcoal, I actually did my first pot and ceramic piece, and introduced others to the medium.”
Ms. Cox also explains how her family influenced her art, “The two people that influenced me the most were my two sisters, my sister Anne because she was an artist and taught art at a mental disability hospital to young kids, and I would go with her. Seeing the exploration these kids did through my sister made me feel heartfelt and like I knew that art is such an amazing way to bring out the best in people and that anyone can do art, it just takes exploring that option. My other sister Carrie because she is an artist when she was a high school her art teacher wanted to put her creations in galleries along the east coast, she did ad designs for upscale stores at the time, she ate slept, and breathed art, and when she graduated she worked for the newspaper and did magazine design characters, she does very realistic drawings and now very whimsical drawings still after all these years of doing art, she stays occupied by it and it really is beautiful to see how art can take over your life in such an amazing way.”
Just as some artists were influenced by other historic artists or family members, some of the most influential artists that one will experience are the ones in the community, community means a lot to Arts Council director, Amber, she explains how that has guided her to be so involved with the arts“my love for art has helped me drive out artists in the community, and museums, public sculptures and that has given me the motivation to view more art and continue to I love spending time with the art like when I’m in a city very art-driven I can spend hours analyzing the medium, the thought process, and it inspires me to give others and especially youth involved in the arts. If they can get their hands on more mediums in high school they can explore careers that they did not know was an option. I think everyone has an artistic gift, but they don’t know what their medium is if they find that special way of creating, it could just be a part of their life forever.
I love art because no matter what age you are young and old you can dabble in mediums that can really make you sing.”
Ms. Cox has been involved in this community for a long time, and she shares wisdom about the art community and how to be a respectful member of it, and how it will help you as an artist, “when people you respect in the art world create something and you respect them and their work and your work ethic and they get excited about your creative ideas, and that motivates me to continue creating, with clay it is interesting because you can make up a mug but everyone will come up with a different design of clay and it is recyclable and so you can continue and continue to create. And seeing artists around the community explore that creativity it encourages me to continue to create.”
Art and creativity can shape and change the way one thinks, especially if there is a time like a pandemic, when you need a creative outlet to express yourself and the anger, or sadness you’re feeling. If you’re interested in getting involved with the arts, in the community or at the high school, there are some links you can access for that at the bottom of the page.
Contact the Arts Council if you’re interested in starting a club or joining one that involves the medium you prefer. If you’re interested in purchasing one of Ms. Cox’s piece, her website is linked below. Lastly, email one of the art teachers at Watauga if you are looking for advice or information on how to get involved in arts at Watauga High School.
More pictures of illustrations and sculptures from Connie Cox, Freyja Tzotschew, and Amber Bateman
Written by Sophia Bateman
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